How to plan and organise your work – Part 2
Organising my tasks into categories that felt aligned with my tastes and skills, as I explained in my previous post, was a big step forward, but I still felt I wasn’t making the most of each day.
I find it difficult to fully focus on the moment, on the task at hand, if I know there are others things waiting for my attention. It doesn’t matter what those things are – however pleasurable they might be, they will somehow weigh on me. I am also very much not a morning person. I don’t get up particularly late, but I am really not very effective in the mornings, and without a workplace and job to get to I start the day later than I used to.
But I was somehow ignoring these two aspects of how my own brain works. I still expected to get work done in the first part of the day, and would delay the other things I do daily (my walk and ballet practice) until later – until I had got some actual work done. I would then get to late afternoon and have to cram everything in, doing my ballet while cooking and feeling like my evenings were being turned into a checklist. In reality I have a lot of time to myself, and plenty of space in the evening for everything, but I wasn’t enjoying the way everything felt piled up at the end of the day.
So I have done two things. First, I have accepted that I can’t effectively do anything too challenging before 11am. I now start by planning my day, followed by something from the ‘learning’ category, and any easy admin tasks. After a little over an hour I take a half-hour break. This feels indulgent as I’ve done little by that point, but it’s the perfect time for a snack and reading a couple of magazine articles. Then I’ll do some more work, usually some making, before breaking for lunch and my ballet practice. Depending on the day and the work I’ve planned, I may go straight for a walk, or do so mid-afternoon. The rest of the afternoon is perfect for more making, writing or photography. As it gets closer to the evening and my energy starts to wane I’ll tend to switch back to some learning, admin or planning.
On paper I probably spend a little less time on work every day, but I get more done. I’ve also regained the balance I was so keen to find when I started working for myself, with pockets of leisure time throughout the day and week. Walking and ballet had started to feel like items to tick off a list, but now I fully enjoy them again, and they are giving me the rest and breathing space I need to go back to focusing on work. And, finally, my pile of unread magazines is getting the attention it deserves.
Questions to ask yourself
When do I feel most able to work?
What kind/category of work best fits each part of the day?
What else do I want or need to do each day? Does it work better for me if I do them first, after I’ve finished work, or throughout the day?
It is worth experimenting over a week, switching things around and observing how it feels.
